As CHVNK rides will do, we moved at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently to gawk, hydrate, snack, and, of course, to make on-the-fly repairs, once early on when the Family Truxter had some cargo rack issues on the Springwater Corridor.

Photo courtesy of Stan!

Photo courtesy of Stan!

More seriously, the swingbike's sissybar's began to buckle roughly half the way to Oregon City. We bivouacked in a park somewhere in Milwaukie, and scavenged around for scrap metal, which we found by the nearby railroad tracks.

The scavenged metal bars even had holes that fit snugly over the rear axle! Some duct tape to give them some tension, and a rolled up poncho for some seat padding the swingbike was good to go.

The subsequent leg of the ride gets away from the riverside and becomes a long haul on a dull suburban street. However, as we began our final approach to Oregon City, we were rewarded when we came around a corner and ran smack into this!!

Yeah!! A goddamn castle!

We sniffed around, found someone's campsite, admired the graffiti ("bitch tits"), Guesses were made as to its age, although we had no idea it was old as it turned out to be [to StumptownConfidential's excellent research I will only add that on public records the Castle was purchased, possibly by Clackamas County, in 1999, and removed from the tax rolls].

Photo courtesy of Stan!

Then Lance found a note on the ground…

From there it was a quick jaunt into Oregon City itself. We rode down Main Street 'til we hit the paper mill, then sidled over into a nearby parking lot to get a good look at the Falls.

Apparently we were still on mill property, because the requisite security guard via golf cart told us to leave. We obliged and went and rode the Municipal Elevator. A succinct sampling of Oregon City bars and restaurants followed. The results:

The Wheel: A- (no draft beer)

Super Torta: A+

The 505: A- (darth vader dart machines a bit distracting)

The bar that asked us to leave our bags in the corner by the door: see me after class.

The long ride home began. After climbing a very long hill, we popped back to the halfway point park where we had repaired the swingbike, and consumed the last of our supplies.

Back in Portland proper, a brief porch session was quickly followed by heading up the hill to the pub for tater tots and onion rings.